📖 Utangulizi wa Agano la Kale — Sehemu ya 2: Ukombozi na Utakatifu (Kutoka na Mambo ya Walawi)📖 Old Testament Survey — Unit 2: Redemption and Holiness (Exodus & Leviticus)

I. Kutoka Misri: Kitabu cha KutokaI. Out of Egypt: The Book of Exodus

Mwanzo ni kitabu kinachofunua hitaji letu; Kutoka ni kitabu ambamo Mungu anatenda. Ile familia ya watu sabini iliyoshuka Misri mwishoni mwa kitabu cha Mwanzo, kufikia mistari ya kwanza ya Kutoka imekua na kuwa taifa la labda watu milioni mbili — nao ni watumwa. Farao mpya ameketi kitini, "asiyemjua Yusufu" (Kutoka 1:8), naye anakusudia kuwasaga Waebrania wawe matofali ya milki yake. Kwa miaka mia nne wanalia. Na pale kwenye kichaka kinachowaka moto Mungu anatamka sentensi ambayo imewabeba watu wake tangu siku hiyo: "Hakika nimeyaona mateso ya watu wangu walioko Misri, nami nimekisikia kilio chao" (Kutoka 3:7). Mbingu si kiziwi, wala hazijawahi kuwa kiziwi. Ikiwa Mwanzo ilituambia tulichohitaji, Kutoka inatuambia kile Mungu anachofanya.Genesis is the book that exposes our need; Exodus is the book in which God acts. The family of seventy that came down to Egypt at the close of Genesis has grown, by the opening verses of Exodus, into a nation of perhaps two million souls — and they are slaves. A new pharaoh sits on the throne "who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), and he means to grind the Hebrews into the brick of his empire. For four hundred years they cry. And at the burning bush God speaks a sentence that has carried His people ever since: "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry" (Exodus 3:7). Heaven is not deaf, and never has been. If Genesis told us what we needed, Exodus tells us what God does.

A. Musa: Sauti IliyositaA. Moses: The Reluctant Voice

Hadithi ya Musa inaanza pale ambapo kila hadithi ya ukombozi huanzia — mahali ambapo uhai haukutarajiwa kuendelea kuishi. Farao ameamuru kifo cha kila mtoto mchanga wa kiume wa Kiebrania, na mama yake Musa anamweka katika kisafina juu ya Mto Nile. Binti wa Farao anamwona, anamtoa majini, na (huu ni mmojawapo ya mizaha mikubwa ya kimya katika Maandiko) anamwajiri mama yake Musa mwenyewe amnyonyeshe, akilipwa mshahara na Farao. Kama bado hujagundua kwamba Mungu ana ucheshi, basi hujasoma kwa makini.Moses' story begins where every redemption story begins — in a place where life is not supposed to survive. Pharaoh has decreed the death of every Hebrew baby boy, and Moses' mother sets him in a basket on the Nile. The princess of Egypt finds him, draws him out of the water, and (this is one of the great quiet jokes of Scripture) hires Moses' own mother to nurse him on Pharaoh's payroll. If you have not yet noticed that God has a sense of humor, you have not been reading carefully.

Musa aliishi miaka mia moja na ishirini, na maisha yake yanagawanyika vizuri katika vipindi vitatu sawa vya miaka arobaini. Katika arobaini ya kwanza, akiwa mwana wa kulea wa Farao, alijifunza jinsi ya kuwa MTU MKUBWA. Katika arobaini ya pili, upande wa nyuma wa jangwa la Midiani akichunga kondoo, alijifunza jinsi ya kuwa SI KITU. Na katika arobaini ya tatu, akiwa kiongozi wa watu waliokombolewa na BWANA, alijifunza kwamba MUNGU NDIYE KILA KITU — Yule ambaye angesema naye uso kwa uso, kama mtu anavyosema na rafiki yake. Mungu alitumia miaka themanini kumwandaa Musa kwa ajili ya miaka arobaini. Baadhi yetu bado tuko katika arobaini yetu ya pili, tukishangaa kwa nini hakuna kinachotokea. Hakuna kinachopotea bure.Moses lived for one hundred and twenty years, and his life divides neatly into three equal blocks of forty. In the first forty, as Pharaoh's adopted son, he learned how to be SOMEBODY. In the second forty, on the back side of Midian's desert tending sheep, he learned how to be a NOBODY. And in the third forty, as the leader of the LORD's redeemed people, he learned that GOD WAS EVERYBODY — the One he would speak to face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. God spent eighty years getting Moses ready for forty. Some of us are still in our second forty, wondering why nothing is happening. Nothing is wasted.

Akiwa na miaka themanini Musa anakutana na BWANA katika kichaka kinachowaka moto bila kuteketea. Mungu anafunua jina lake: "MIMI NIKO AMBAYE NIKO" (Kutoka 3:14). Yahweh — anayejitegemea katika uwepo wake, wa milele, mwaminifu, asiyemtegemea mtu yeyote kwa uhai wake, yeye yule jana, leo, na hata milele. Musa, kama kawaida yake, anatafuta mlango wa kutokea. "Mimi ni nani?" Mungu anajibu: Hakika nitakuwa pamoja nawe. "Je, wasiponiamini?" Mungu anajibu kwa ile nyoka na ule mkono wenye ukoma. "Mimi si msemaji." Mungu anajibu: Ni nani aliyempa mwanadamu kinywa? Mwishowe Musa anasema, kwa maana yake, "Bwana, afadhali umtafute mtu mwingine." Hapo ndipo hasira ya Mungu inapowaka (Kutoka 4:14). Bwana hasumbuki kamwe unaposita mwanzoni. Alikuumba ujione huna uwezo wa kutosha, ili upate kumtegemea Yeye. Lakini baada ya Yeye kujibu kila pingamizi na bado unasema "tafuta mtu mwingine," umemtukana kwa kusema, "Hata mimi sidhani kwamba Wewe unaweza kufanya hivyo."At eighty Moses meets the LORD in a bush that burns without burning up. God reveals His name: "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Yahweh — self-existent, eternal, faithful, dependent on no one for His being, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Moses, characteristically, looks for the exit. "Who am I?" God answers: I will be with you. "What if they don't believe me?" God answers with the serpent and the leprous hand. "I am not eloquent." God answers: Who made man's mouth? Finally Moses says, in effect, "Lord, You had better get someone else." That is the line where God's anger kindles (Exodus 4:14). The Lord is never troubled when you draw back at first. He made you to feel inadequate, so that you would lean on Him. But after He has answered every objection and you still say "find someone else," you have insulted Him by saying, "I do not think You can do it either."

B. Mapigo na Mwana-Kondoo wa PasakaB. The Plagues and the Passover Lamb

Farao anakataa kuwaachia Israeli waende, na Mungu anaingia vitani — si dhidi ya jeshi la Misri bali dhidi ya miungu ya Misri. Kila mojawapo ya yale mapigo kumi linampiga mungu mahususi katika jamii ya miungu ya Misri. Mto Nile (Hapi) unageuka kuwa damu. Vyura (Heqet) wanaijaza nchi. Jua (Ra) linatiwa giza wakati wa adhuhuri. Kufikia wakati pigo la kumi linapotangazwa, miungu ya Misri imelala chini vipande vipande.Pharaoh refuses to let Israel go, and God goes to war — not against Egypt's army but against Egypt's gods. Each of the ten plagues lands on a specific deity in the Egyptian pantheon. The Nile (Hapi) becomes blood. The frogs (Heqet) overrun the land. The sun (Ra) is darkened at noon. By the time the tenth plague is announced, the gods of Egypt lie in pieces.

Mara nne Biblia inasema Mungu aliufanya moyo wa Farao kuwa mgumu; mara tatu inasema Farao aliufanya moyo wake mwenyewe kuwa mgumu. Ni lipi kati ya hayo? Ni yote mawili. Jua lile lile linaloyeyusha donge la nta ndilo linalolifanya donge la udongo kuwa gumu. Jua ni lile lile; asili ya kila kitu ndiyo iliyo tofauti. Moyo wa Farao ulikuwa mgumu kabla Mungu hajasema naye hata mara moja, na kila neno kutoka kwa BWANA liliimarisha tu kile kilichokuwa tayari ndani yake.Four times the Bible says God hardened Pharaoh's heart; three times it says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Which was it? It was both. The same sun that will melt a ball of wax will harden a ball of clay. The sun is the same; the nature of each object is different. Pharaoh's heart was hard before God ever spoke to him, and every word from the LORD only set what was already there.

Pigo la kumi ni tofauti. Litaangukia kila nyumba — ya Mmisri na ya Mwebrania sawasawa — isipokuwa mwana-kondoo achinjwe badala ya mzaliwa wa kwanza. Mwana-kondoo lazima awe asiye na dosari. Damu yake ipakwe kwenye miimo na kizingiti cha juu cha mlango wa nyumba. Malaika wa mauti anapoiona damu, anapita juu. Waebrania hawakuila damu; hawakuihisi damu; waliipaka damu, kisha wakaketi ndani ya nyumba na kuamini kwamba inatosha. Hivyo ndivyo imani iokoayo imekuwa siku zote. Mwana-kondoo alisimama mahali pa mzaliwa wa kwanza — mbadala, akifa ili familia ipate kuishi. "Pasipo kumwaga damu hakuna ondoleo" (Waebrania 9:22).The tenth plague is different. It will fall on every house — Egyptian and Hebrew alike — unless a lamb is slain in place of the firstborn. The lamb must be without blemish. Its blood is to be brushed on the doorposts and lintel of the home. When the angel of death sees the blood, he passes over. The Hebrews did not eat the blood; they did not feel the blood; they applied the blood, then sat down inside the house and trusted that it was enough. That is what saving faith has always looked like. The lamb stood in the firstborn's place — a substitute, dying so the family might live. "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22).

Tunaendelea kuufuata uzi tulioanza kuufuatilia katika Sehemu ya 1. Mavazi ya ngozi ya Edeni, mzaliwa wa kwanza aliyechinjwa na Habili, madhabahu ya Nuhu, kondoo dume wa Moria — na sasa mwana-kondoo kwenye miimo ya mlango. Uzi Mwekundu unatoka moja kwa moja bustanini hadi kwenye mitaa ya Misri usiku ule, na hautakoma mpaka Kalvari. Mwana-kondoo wa Pasaka asiye na dosari, aliyechinjwa ili mzaliwa wa kwanza aishi, ni picha ya kwanza ya pamoja, ya hadhara, na ya kiibada ya "Mwana-Kondoo wa Mungu, aichukuaye dhambi ya ulimwengu" (Yohana 1:29). Kile Mungu alichofanya faraghani katika Edeni alipomchinja mnyama wa kwanza ili kuwavika Adamu na Hawa, sasa anakifanya kwa ajili ya taifa zima katika usiku mmoja — na kile alichofanya kwa ajili ya taifa zima katika usiku mmoja, siku moja atakifanya kwa ajili ya ulimwengu wote katika alasiri moja ya Ijumaa.We are picking up the thread we began to trace in Unit 1. Eden's garments of skin, Abel's slaughtered firstborn, Noah's altar, Moriah's ram — and now the lamb on the doorpost. The Scarlet Thread runs straight from the garden into Egyptian streets that night, and it will not stop until Calvary. The Passover lamb without blemish, slain so the firstborn might live, is the first corporate, public, liturgical portrait of "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). What God did privately in Eden when He killed the first animal to clothe Adam and Eve, He now does for a whole nation in one night — and what He did for a whole nation in one night, He will one day do for the whole world on one Friday afternoon.

C. Bahari ya Shamu: Njia ya Kutoka Ilikuwa Kupita KatikatiC. The Red Sea: The Way Out Was Through

Israeli wanatoka Misri kwa haraka, na Farao — akiwa amefiwa na mwana — anaamua afadhali apoteze jeshi kuliko kuwapoteza watumwa wake. Anawafuatia. Watu wanajikuta wamebanwa kati ya bahari iliyo mbele yao na magari ya vita yaliyo nyuma yao, ambayo kwa kawaida ndiyo hali ya kila nafsi iliyoanza kumfuata Mungu kwa dhati. Musa anatamka mojawapo ya maneno makuu ya Agano la Kale: "BWANA atawapigania ninyi, nanyi mtanyamaza kimya" (Kutoka 14:14). Na kisha, katika pumzi inayofuata, BWANA anamwambia Musa, "Waambie wana wa Israeli waendelee mbele" (Kutoka 14:15). Imani si kukunja mikono.Israel leaves Egypt in haste, and Pharaoh — having lost a son — decides he would rather lose an army than lose his slaves. He pursues. The people find themselves caught between the sea in front and the chariots behind, which happens to be the classic position of every soul that has begun to follow God seriously. Moses speaks one of the great lines of the Old Testament: "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent" (Exodus 14:14). And then, in the very next breath, the LORD says to Moses, "Tell the people of Israel to go forward" (Exodus 14:15). Faith is not folded arms.

Maji yanagawanyika, watu wanapita katikati kwenye nchi kavu, jeshi linazama, na Israeli — walioingia baharini wakiwa kundi la watumwa — wanatoka ng'ambo ya pili wakiwa taifa. Paulo atalisoma tukio hili kama picha ya Agano la Kale ya ubatizo wa Kikristo: "Baba zetu wote… wakabatizwa wawe wa Musa katika wingu na katika bahari" (1 Wakorintho 10:1–2). Wokovu hapa ni kwa neema peke yake — Mungu anayagawanya maji, Mungu anayafunga maji, Mungu anapigana vita — na bado watu walilazimika kutembea. Kuna mahali pa Bahari ya Shamu katika maisha ya waumini wengi, ambapo njia pekee ya kutoka kwa kweli ni kupita katikati. Na angalia — Israeli hawaimbi wakiwa Misri. Misri haina nyimbo. Wimbo wa kwanza katika Biblia baada ya Mwanzo unaimbwa ng'ambo ya bahari, katika Kutoka 15. Ukombozi wa kweli daima hupata wimbo.The waters part, the people walk through on dry ground, the army is drowned, and Israel — who entered the sea a slave-mob — comes out the other side a nation. Paul will read this scene as the Old Testament's portrait of Christian baptism: "Our fathers were all… baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Corinthians 10:1–2). Salvation here is by grace alone — God parts the water, God closes the water, God fights the battle — and yet the people had to walk. There is a Red Sea place in many believers' lives, where the only way out really is through. And notice — Israel does not sing in Egypt. Egypt has no songs. The first song in the Bible after Genesis is sung on the far shore of the sea, in Exodus 15. Real deliverance always finds a song.

D. Sinai: Mungu Asiyeweza Kushawishiwa Aache Utakatifu WakeD. Sinai: A God Who Cannot Be Talked Out of His Holiness

Miezi mitatu baada ya kutoka Misri, Israeli wanafika Mlima Sinai, na mlima wenyewe unaanza kutetemeka. Umeme, moshi, sauti ya baragumu inayozidi kuwa kubwa badala ya kufifia. Kutoka katika ngurumo hiyo Mungu anasema maneno kumi. Manne ya kwanza yanaongoza uhusiano wa wima — usiwe na miungu mingine, usijifanyie sanamu, usilitaje Jina bure, ikumbuke Sabato. Sita ya mwisho yanaongoza uhusiano wa mlalo — waheshimu wazazi, usiue, usizini, usiibe, usimshuhudie jirani yako uongo, usitamani (Kutoka 20). Mpende Mungu; mpende jirani. Baadaye Yesu atazifupisha amri zote kumi kuwa hizo mbili (Mathayo 22:37–40). Amri Kumi ni katiba ya waliokombolewa.Three months out of Egypt, Israel arrives at Mount Sinai, and the mountain itself begins to shake. Lightning, smoke, the blast of a trumpet that grows louder rather than fading. Out of that thunder God speaks ten words. The first four govern the vertical relationship — no other gods, no images, no taking the Name in vain, remember the Sabbath. The last six govern the horizontal — honor parents, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not covet (Exodus 20). Love God; love neighbor. Jesus will later compress all ten back to those two (Matthew 22:37–40). The Decalogue is the constitution of the redeemed.

Sheria haikuwahi kuwa ngazi ya kupandia mbinguni. "Kutambua dhambi huja kwa njia ya sheria" (Warumi 3:20). Ni kioo, si ngazi. Lakini kioo husema kweli, na kweli iliyoko Sinai ni kwamba Mungu ambaye wewe na mimi tunashughulika naye habadiliki. Hawezi kubembelezwa ili ajifanye haoni. Hawezi kupunguziwa bei. Hawezi kushawishiwa aache utakatifu wake. Jambo hilo linatisha unaposimama mbele zake na dhambi zako, nalo ni faraja kuu kuliko zote duniani unaposimama mbele zake chini ya damu ya Mwanawe mwenyewe. Mungu yule yule asiyebadilika ambaye hatashusha kiwango ndiye pia ambaye hataitangua ahadi kamwe.The Law was never a ladder up to heaven. "Through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). It is a mirror, not a ladder. But the mirror tells the truth, and the truth at Sinai is that the God you and I have to deal with is unchangeable. He cannot be flattered into looking the other way. He cannot be bargained down. He cannot be talked out of His holiness. That is terrifying when you stand in front of Him with your sins, and it is the deepest comfort in the world when you stand in front of Him under the blood of His own Son. The same unchangeable God who will not lower the bar will also never retract the promise.

E. Maskani: Mungu Anashuka Kuishi Kati YetuE. The Tabernacle: God Comes Down to Live Among Us

Ikiwa Sinai inatuonyesha jinsi mbingu zilivyo juu, maskani inatuonyesha jinsi mbingu zilivyo tayari kushuka chini. "Nao na wanifanyie patakatifu; ili nipate kukaa kati yao" (Kutoka 25:8). Maagizo ya maskani yanachukua theluthi ya mwisho ya kitabu cha Kutoka — nafasi kubwa zaidi kuliko mapigo na Pasaka kwa pamoja — kwa sababu lengo la ukombozi halikuwa tu kutoka Misri; lengo lilikuwa kuingia katika uwepo wa Mungu.If Sinai shows us how high heaven is, the tabernacle shows us how far heaven is willing to come down. "Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst" (Exodus 25:8). The instructions for the tabernacle take up the last third of Exodus — far more space than the plagues and Passover combined — because the goal of redemption was never simply out of Egypt; the goal was into the presence of God.

Maskani ilikuwa na sehemu tatu: ua wa nje, ambako watu wangeweza kuja; Patakatifu, ambako makuhani walihudumu kila siku; na Patakatifu pa Patakatifu, ambako Mungu mwenyewe aliketi katika enzi, na ambako kuhani mkuu peke yake angeweza kuingia, mara moja tu kwa mwaka, na kamwe si bila damu. Ndani ya Patakatifu pa Patakatifu palikuwa na sanduku la agano, kasha lililofunikwa kwa dhahabu lenye zile mbao za mawe za Sheria. Juu ya kifuniko chake kulikuwa na kiti cha rehema, kikiwa na makerubi wawili pande zake mbili, mabawa yao yakiwa yamenyooshwa juu yake. Katika Siku ya Upatanisho, damu ilinyunyizwa juu ya kiti hicho cha rehema — damu ikisimama kati ya Sheria iliyovunjwa ndani ya sanduku na Mungu mtakatifu aliyeketi katika enzi juu yake. Hiyo ndiyo Injili iliyohubiriwa kwa vyombo vya maskani. Sheria inahukumu; damu inafunika; Mungu anakutana na watu wake hapo. Na mwandishi wa Waebrania anatuambia kwamba sasa tuna kitu ambacho Israeli wangeweza kukitazama tu kwa mbali: "tuna ujasiri wa kupaingia patakatifu kwa damu ya Yesu" (Waebrania 10:19).The tabernacle had three zones: the outer court, where the people could come; the Holy Place, where the priests served daily; and the Holy of Holies, where God Himself was enthroned and only the high priest could enter, only once a year, and never without blood. Inside the Holy of Holies stood the ark of the covenant, a gold-overlaid chest containing the tablets of the Law. On its lid sat the mercy seat, flanked by two cherubim with their wings stretched out over it. On the Day of Atonement, blood was sprinkled on that mercy seat — blood standing between the broken Law inside the ark and the holy God enthroned above it. That is the gospel preached in furniture. The Law condemns; the blood covers; God meets His people there. And the writer of Hebrews tells us we now have something Israel could only watch from a distance: "we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus" (Hebrews 10:19).

II. Kitabu cha Mambo ya Walawi: Kuishi na Moto MtakatifuII. The Book of Leviticus: Living with Holy Fire

Wakristo wengi wanaoanza kusoma Biblia kuanzia mwanzo hadi mwisho hukwama mahali fulani katika Mambo ya Walawi. Kitabu hiki kinaonekana kuwa orodha isiyo na mwisho ya dhabihu, magonjwa ya ngozi, na sheria za vyakula. Lakini Mambo ya Walawi si orodha tu. Ni jibu kwa tatizo ambalo kitabu cha Kutoka kimetoka kulizua. Mungu ameshuka kukaa na Israeli ndani ya maskani. Basi watu wenye dhambi wanawezaje kuishi jirani na Mungu mtakatifu bila kuteketezwa?Most Christians who set out to read the Bible cover to cover are stopped somewhere in Leviticus. The book seems an endless catalogue of sacrifices, skin diseases, and dietary laws. But Leviticus is not a list. It is the answer to a problem that Exodus has just created. God has come down to dwell with Israel in the tabernacle. So how does a sinful people live next door to a holy God without being consumed?

Kitabu kizima kinazunguka sentensi moja, na Agano Jipya litainukuu tena kwa kanisa bila kubadilisha hata neno moja: "Mtakuwa watakatifu; kwa kuwa mimi BWANA, Mungu wenu, ni mtakatifu" (Mambo ya Walawi 19:2; linganisha 1 Petro 1:16). Kwa msingi wake, utakatifu si ukamilifu wa kimaadili. Ni kutengwa — kuwekwa wakfu kwa ajili ya Mungu — na kutokana na kutengwa huko, mwenendo wa kimaadili hububujika. Israeli walipaswa kuwa watakatifu kwa sababu walikuwa mali ya Mungu mtakatifu; walipaswa kumwiga Yeye kati ya mataifa.The whole book turns on one sentence, and the New Testament will quote it back to the church without changing a word: "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Leviticus 19:2; cf. 1 Peter 1:16). Holiness is not, at root, moral perfection. It is separation — being set apart unto God — and out of that separation, moral conduct flows. Israel was to be holy because she belonged to a holy God; she was to imitate Him among the nations.

Sadaka tano kuu — ya kuteketezwa, ya unga, ya amani, ya dhambi, na ya hatia — ni pembe tano tofauti za kuutazama msalaba mmoja ambao ulikuwa bado kuja. Sheria za vyakula na za usafi zinaifundisha Israeli, kwa ukumbusho wa kila siku, kwamba Mungu wao si kama miungu ya mataifa. Na kiini cha kitabu ni mstari mmoja ambao mfumo wote wa dhabihu umening'inia juu yake: "Kwa kuwa uhai wa mwili umo katika ile damu; nami nimewapa ninyi juu ya madhabahu ili kufanya upatanisho kwa ajili ya nafsi zenu; kwa kuwa ni damu ifanyayo upatanisho kwa sababu ya uhai" (Mambo ya Walawi 17:11). Upatanisho unahitaji uhai unaotolewa mahali pa mwingine. Uhai kwa uhai. Damu ni uthibitisho kwamba mbadala amekufa.The five main offerings — burnt, grain, peace, sin, and trespass — are five different angles on the one cross still to come. The dietary and purity codes teach Israel, by daily reminder, that her God is not like the gods of the nations. And the heart of the book is a single verse on which all the rest of the sacrificial system hangs: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life" (Leviticus 17:11). Atonement requires a life given in the place of another. A life for a life. The blood is the proof that the substitute has died.

Siku ya Upatanisho (Yom Kippur)The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

Kitabu kinafikia kilele chake katika sura ya kumi na sita, katika Siku ya Upatanisho. Mara moja kwa mwaka, kuhani mkuu aliingia Patakatifu pa Patakatifu na damu ya ng'ombe dume na ya mbuzi, akafanya upatanisho kwa ajili ya taifa pale kwenye kiti cha rehema. Kisha mbuzi wa pili aliletwa mbele. Kuhani aliweka mikono yake yote miwili juu ya kichwa chake, akaungama juu yake dhambi za watu, na yule mbuzi — mbuzi wa Azazeli — aliongozwa mbali hadi nyikani, akichukua kile ambacho hakuna mtu yeyote katika Israeli angeweza kujichukulia mwenyewe. Mbuzi wawili, kweli moja: dhambi lazima ife, na dhambi lazima iondolewe mbali. Damu na mbadala. Kifo na kuhesabiwa (imputation) — kwa maana mikono ya kuhani ilihamisha hatia ya watu juu ya mbuzi kama vile hatia yetu ilivyohamishiwa kwa Kristo pale msalabani.The book climaxes in chapter sixteen, on the Day of Atonement. Once a year, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of a bull and a goat, and made atonement for the nation at the mercy seat. Then a second goat was brought forward. The priest laid both hands on its head, confessing over it the sins of the people, and the goat — the scapegoat — was led far out into the wilderness, carrying away what no one in Israel could carry himself. Two goats, one truth: sin must die, and sin must be sent away. The blood and the substitute. The death and the imputation — for the priest's hands transferred the people's guilt onto the goat the way our guilt was transferred to Christ at the cross.

Siku ya Upatanisho ni kituo kikuu kinachofuata katika Uzi Mwekundu. Kile kilichoonyeshwa kwa kivuli katika Edeni, kwa Habili, kwenye madhabahu ya Nuhu, Moria, na miimo ya milango ya Misri sasa kinakuwa ibada ya kitaifa ya kila mwaka — na kinaelekeza kwenye Siku moja ya mwisho ambayo ilikuwa bado kuja. Mwandishi wa Waebrania anasimama mlangoni pa maskani hiyo na kutuambia kile kilichotokea kwa kweli siku ile ambayo taratibu zote hizo ziliielekea: Kristo aliingia "mara moja tu katika Patakatifu, wala si kwa damu ya mbuzi na ya ndama, bali kwa damu yake mwenyewe, akiisha kupata ukombozi wa milele" (Waebrania 9:12). Kila mnyama aliyewahi kufa juu ya madhabahu ya Kiisraeli alikuwa hati ya ahadi ya malipo. Mwana-Kondoo wa Mungu alilipa deni lote kikamilifu.The Day of Atonement is the next great station on the Scarlet Thread. What was prefigured at Eden, Abel, Noah's altar, Moriah, and the doorposts of Egypt now becomes a national, annual liturgy — and points to one final Day still to come. The writer of Hebrews stands at the door of that tabernacle and tells us what really happened on the day all those rituals pointed to: Christ entered "once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption" (Hebrews 9:12). Every animal that ever died on an Israelite altar was a promissory note. The Lamb of God paid the bill in full.

III. Kristo katika Kutoka na Mambo ya Walawi — Misimamo Miwili ThabitiIII. Christ in Exodus and Leviticus — Two Convictions

Fuatilia mstari huu katika vitabu hivi viwili na utamkuta Yeye katika kila ukurasa. Yeye ndiye Mwana-Kondoo wa Pasaka ambaye damu yake inamfanya malaika wa mauti atupite. Yeye ndiye Bahari ya Shamu ambayo kupitia kwayo tunatoka utumwani na kuingia katika maisha mapya. Yeye ndiye Mwamba jangwani ambao maji ya uzima hububujika kutoka kwake (1 Wakorintho 10:4). Yeye ndiye Kiti cha Rehema ambapo mashtaka ya Sheria yananyamazishwa kwa damu. Yeye ndiye mbuzi wa Azazeli anayezichukua dhambi zetu mahali ambapo hazitaonekana tena kamwe. Yeye ndiye Kuhani Mkuu Aliye Mkuu ambaye ameingia patakatifu si mara moja kwa mwaka bali mara moja tu kwa ajili ya wote, na ambaye yu hai sikuzote ili awaombee wale wanaomkaribia Mungu kwa njia yake (Waebrania 7:25).Trace the line through these two books and you find Him on every page. He is the Passover Lamb whose blood makes the angel of death pass us by. He is the Red Sea through which we pass out of bondage and into a new life. He is the Rock in the wilderness from which living water flows (1 Corinthians 10:4). He is the Mercy Seat where the Law's accusation is silenced by blood. He is the scapegoat who carries our sins where they will never be found again. He is the Great High Priest who has entered the holy place not once a year but once for all, and who lives forever to make intercession for those who come to God through Him (Hebrews 7:25).

Misimamo miwili ya kuchukua kutoka katika sehemu hii. Kwanza, neema inakuja kabla ya sheria. Mungu hakuwapa Israeli Amri Kumi kisha akawakomboa kutoka Misri ikiwa wangezishika. Aliwakomboa kutoka Misri kwa damu ya mwana-kondoo, kisha akawapa Sheria kama kanuni za familia ya watu ambao tayari walikuwa wamekombolewa. Wokovu ni kwa neema; utii ni mwitikio wa wale waliookolewa. Kutoka kwanza; Sinai baadaye. Mpangilio huo ndio Injili. Pili, Mungu yule yule asiyeweza kushusha utakatifu wake pia hawezi kuitangua rehema yake. Sheria ndani ya sanduku, kiti cha rehema juu yake, damu katikati yao — huo ndio usanifu wa Injili, na vitabu vya Kutoka na Mambo ya Walawi ndipo wewe na mimi tunapojifunza kuusoma.Two convictions to take from this unit. First, grace comes before law. God did not give Israel the Ten Commandments and then deliver them out of Egypt if they kept them. He delivered them out of Egypt by the blood of a lamb, and then gave them the Law as the family code of a people already redeemed. Salvation is by grace; obedience is the response of the saved. Exodus comes first; Sinai second. The order is the gospel. Second, the same God who cannot lower His holiness also cannot retract His mercy. The Law in the ark, the mercy seat above it, the blood between them — that is the architecture of the gospel, and the books of Exodus and Leviticus are where you and I learn to read it.

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